Human
by Raindrop Prelude
Summary: At the cusp of war, Konoha and the other four great shinobi countries call a truce with Akatsuki and the world finds peace at last. However, out of spite and censure Orochimaru decides to collect on the debts owed to him and sends his apathetic servant to do the job. Canon/AU, Darkfic.


Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto and associates own these characters. I am writing for fun not profit.

* * *

It is nighttime, and all the lights in the home are turned off.

Sakura sits in her bedroom, and she waits. It's less than a moment later before she hears a light shuffling from the hallway beyond her room.

Her nostrils flare and adrenaline pulses through her body. She opens her mouth and breathes as quietly as she can. Keeping her back against the wall, she slides her body to a standing position.

She feels a tickling sensation on her shoulder, and her hand goes to the source of the hot substance leaking down her neck. Whatever it was the man injected her with while she lay in bed, cut her off from her chakra. She cannot use her chakra, nor suppress it to hide from her pursuer.

She leans her head against the wall.

The only other sound in the house is the tapping of sprinkling rain on the window to her left, parallel to the door on her right. Her heart races at the sight of water streaming down the glass; she knows that her only means of escape mean departing into the rain where it will be difficult for the guards to detect her before her pursuer gets to her first. The only problem with using the window to get outside is turning her back for one second and being attacked from behind.

Her feet begin to move on their own, inching backward toward the window. As she moves, she steps on the wrong floorboard and it groans under her weight.

"Haruno…" he calls out in a careful tone. "…was that you?"

The doorknob clangs suddenly, but doesn't turn. From behind the door Sakura hears the familiar ping of metal against metal.

"Why did you lock the door?" His velvety voice is poised and predatory.

_He enjoys this game of cat and mouse, _she thinks.

In a flash of feistiness Sakura decides that she wants the man to know that she's armed. He already knows where she is so there's no point in being quiet. Sakura replies to his question by scraping the two kunai in her hands against one another, emitting a shrill metallic noise.

There's a moment of silence, and then he chuckles.

Sakura's whole body freezes. The sound of his chuckle is so subtle it's almost part of the darkness, but it comes undoubtedly from behind her.

With a cry she swings her arm around, but the kunai in her hand only swipes through thin air as he stoops down, hastily dodging the weapon with a catlike grace. Her other arm stabs downward but even as she does that he has already ducked to the side.

The stranger straightens up and Sakura has a brief moment to glimpse his features. A black hood covers his hair, and his face is veiled in thin black fabric. Looking down, she sees that his attire is completely black as well, but he wears no shoes.

She's distracted by his bare feet when he grabs her arms with surprising vigor and buries his nails into her skin. Hands loosening from the pain, the kunai drop from her hands, clattering to the floor. She bends her knee up forcefully between his legs. He grunts loudly, but doesn't let go.

Sakura grits her teeth; she isn't a master of taijutsu by any means, but she hasn't been this clumsy in hand-to-hand combat since she was a child. She realizes with a deep frustration that her lack of chakra must be to blame for her slowed reflexes.

The man pushes Sakura and she's hurled backward until her back collides vigorously with the wall. Her head hits the wall as well and the whiplash causes her vision to go slightly out of focus. Again, Sakura is too slow to react as he takes hold of her shoulders and knocks her off her feet with a blow to the ankles.

As soon as she hits the ground he slides on top of her.

Sakura's muscles twitch and strain against him, but his hands don't budge from her wrists and his body doesn't move from hers.

Without chakra, Sakura knows that she can't use her strength. Without her strength or quick reflexes she's physically powerless against him. She stops struggling and falls slack against the ground.

They both pause simultaneously, as if in sync, and for a long moment neither of them say or do anything. Their silence carries resonance, seemingly pulsing around them in a physical way.

The adrenaline of their skirmish is still strumming through Sakura's body, slow to pause with her. It travels upward toward her head, making it pound as if something were clamoring to get out.

The fabric over the man's face moves as he breathes rapidly. He sits on his heels with the curve of his ankles pressing down onto Sakura's thighs, pinning her midsection down completely. He holds her arms above her head, his nails once again digging into her skin as he grips her wrists.

Her voice is the first to break their stillness. Her words come out sounding haggard, and the first note cracks loudly. "Who sent you?"

He doesn't react at first, but Sakura can feel him looking at her through that dark veil.

"'Who sent you'?" he finally says. "This is your first question? Not: 'Who are you' or 'What did you do to me?'" He pauses and presses a blade against her neck. "You're quite presumptuous in thinking I'm not acting on my own."

"You are obviously trained," she interjects, feeling the need to explain herself. "But you are not a shinobi from this village or I would have recognized your voice, and you're not from another village because at the moment there's no reason for another village to assassinate someone so low on the totem pole. Which means you're rogue. But rogue ninja don't work alone, they work in teams or organizations. Organizations have leaders, and those leaders don't perform missions directly, they send others to do their work. You must be one such person, which means you work for _someone._ Tell me, are you with the Akatsuki? Have they decided to betray us?"

"I can see how that would be the logical choice. But the answer is no." He utters a nefarious chuckle, then drops the blade from Sakura's neck. Holding her wrists together with one hand, he pulls his other hand back. Nimble fingers reach inside the hood. Her breath catches and her body tenses further when the veil falls from his face, revealing a very pleased looking Kabuto.

"I constantly underestimate the intelligence of ninja from this village," he says conversationally. "Though I suppose I also always overestimate their prowess. Next time I won't come to Konoha prepared for a life-threatening match, I'll just brace myself for a verbal showdown."

His free hand moves to wrap around Sakura's neck, eliciting a whimper from her.

"What do you want?" she whispers. "What could Orochimaru possibly want with me?"

When he speaks his tone is different, low and serious. "We had a deal."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

The corners of his mouth twitch upward at the same time he narrows his eyes. "I take offense to the fact that you would speak so intelligently one moment and feign illiteracy the next."

She swallows thickly.

"We spared your life once. Now, it seems, Konoha has forgotten that you owe us your life. I'm fully aware that your Hokage doesn't make good on her end of bargains when it comes to cutting deals with rogues, but this truce with Akatsuki...tsk...it's no good." Kabuto lowers his face closer to Sakura and his fingers around her neck tighten. "That's why Orochimaru has asked me to come to collect your debt myself."

Her eyes flicker. "You don't have to—"

She's cut off when he begins to push his palm deeper against her neck.

"I do, in fact. Orochimaru's word is veracious because he does what he says he's going to do. If I do not do as he has asked, his promises will lose credibility."

They look into each other's eyes. Sakura sees the face of a man who believes in a means to an end and she knows that if his orders are to kill her, he'll do it without an ounce of hesitation.

He grits his teeth as she begins to struggle. "Hold still."

The pressure of his hand around her neck releases for a moment.

Sakura doesn't have time to react or even think about what Kabuto is doing before he has stabbed her in the side of the neck with another syringe. They are both skilled medic-nins, so Sakura knows that he will have injected her precisely in the most effective place; there's no doubt now that she's caught in a net.

Her body suddenly feels heavy, her mind rubbery.

The last thing she sees before her world goes black is Kabuto's sneering face.


End file.
